South suburban crack sting nabs 95

OPERATION DAY SHIFT | 'Gang-bangers . . . are going to see a lot more of us,' sheriff says

March 31, 2008

A sting operation attempting to rid the south suburbs of crack cocaine came to an end last week after seven months.

The Cook County sheriff's police, as well as police from Chicago Heights, Ford Heights and Hazel Crest, joined forces with the state's attorney to make 95 arrests during the investigation. The sting, named "Operation Day Shift," was an effort to shut down drug sales during the day and move gangs out of the Ford Heights and Chicago Heights areas.

"Gang-bangers and dope dealers in the south suburbs are going to be seeing a lot more of us," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said Sunday.

The two gangs involved were the Four Corner Hustlers and the Gangster Disciples, Dart said.

The gangs moved drug dealing to mornings, since afternoons and evenings are more heavily patrolled. So, while schoolchildren walked by, undercover officers made several drug purchases within 1,000 feet of two elementary schools: Warren Palm in Hazel Crest and Medgar Evers in Ford Heights . Sales that close to a school automatically raises charges by one class.

People arrested included Janathan Fultz, 25, of the 2100 block of West 167th Street in Hazel Crest; Michael Garfield, 21, of the 14100 block of South Leavitt Avenue in Dixmoor, and Cue T. Gibson, 27, of the 8100 block of South Green Street in Chicago. Garfield and Fultz were within 1,000 feet of a school and charged with delivery of a controlled substance, officials said.